D'Vontaye Mitchell death: Attorney shares hotel surveillance video
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death of D'Vontaye Mitchell – the man who died outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in June – a homicide.
WARNING: Video associated with this story may be disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised.
The final cause of death and autopsy results were released on Friday, more than a month after Mitchell died.
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Hotel surveillance video
William Sulton, the attorney representing Mitchell's widow and daughter, shared new surveillance videos from the hotel on Friday. He said the videos were obtained through a subpoena.
One video shows Mitchell being dragged outside by a member of the hotel staff, and a man who Sulton said was a hotel guest. It also shows a hotel employee beating Mitchell. Seconds later, another employee punched the 43-year-old man before dragging him outside.
D'Vontaye Mitchell
Another video shows a different angle from outside the hotel. That video shows four employees holding Mitchell down on the ground until police arrived. By the time officers got there, he was unresponsive.
The third video was taken minutes before Mitchell was dragged outside. It shows him running through the hotel lobby and entering a women's restroom. An employee pulled him out of the restroom a minute or so later.
Cause of death
The medical examiner's office listed Mitchell's final cause of death as "restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine." The report notes that the injury to Mitchell came when he was "restrained in prone position by multiple individuals after drug (cocaine, methamphetamine) use."
"If he was wrong he could’ve went to jail, I would’ve felt so much better about that," said Deasia Harmon, Mitchell's widow. "Not this. It’s not fair."
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Milwaukee hotel death; D'Vontaye Mitchell's family wants answers 1 month later
A month after his death outside the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee hotel, D'Vontaye Mitchell’s family said they still have no answers or justice.
The Milwaukee Police Department referred felony murder charges against the four people who held Mitchell down, which the district attorney's office is still reviewing.
In addition to those four people, Sulton also wants the other people shown in the video held accountable. He is also calling on the Hyatt Regency to compensate Mitchell's family.
"We are just fighting for basic, simple justice here. We are not asking for anything different, we are not asking for anything extraordinary," Sulton said. "A man beaten to death on a sidewalk – yeah – charges should be issued."